Marketplace Fairness Act moves on to Senate

Monday, April 29, 2013 11:45 AM

The New York Times reports that pressure from struggling brick-and-mortar retailers is beginning to drown out the voices of anti-tax activists in Washington, D.C., who have typically shot down Internet tax measures in the past.

The legislation, S. 1382, officially known as the Marketplace Fairness Act, will allow state governments to require internet retailers collect sales tax. It cleared its final procedural hurdle April 25 on a bipartisan Senate vote, 63 to 30. Click here to read the bill.

Final Senate passage is scheduled for May 6, and that tally is likely to be even more strongly in favor. Earlier test votes won as many as 75 yeses. And House action, once seemingly unthinkable, may be unstoppable, the Times reported.

"I have some concern about the legislation," said Representative Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, which has jurisdiction on the issue, "but we also recognize the fairness issue - certain items being taxed in certain circumstances, other items being not - is a problem for brick-and-mortar businesses, so we're going to try and solve that."

Victoria Daniels, public information officer for the Iowa Department of Revenue, told the Des Moines Register that an internet sales tax, with an exception for retailers with less than $500,000 per year in online sales, would result in an estimated $24 million in new revenue.